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October 3
1800s *1897 - Cap Anson closed out a remarkable 27-year career that started in the National Association in 1871. He hit two home runs against St. Louis. At age 46, he became the oldest player to homer in the majors. 1900s *1904 - Christy Mathewson of the New York Giants stroke out 16 Cardinals in a 3–1 Giants victory. His 16 strikeouts set a new record as he finishes the game in one hour and 15 minutes. 1910s *1919 - Rookie pitcher Dickie Kerr threw a three-hitter shutout as the Chicago White Sox won 3–0 over the Cincinnati Reds. Shoeless Joe Jackson had two hits and Chick Gandil drove in two runs as the White Sox cut Cincinnati's World Series lead to 2-1. Cuban Adolfo Luque became the first Hispanic American player to appear in a World Series game, pitching one inning of relief for the Reds. 1920s *1920 - In a 16–7 win over the White Sox, George Sisler of the St. Louis Browns collected his 257th hit of the season to set a major league record. He also pitched a scoreless ninth inning in relief for St. Louis. * 1926 - After the Yankees scored twice in the second inning, Grover Cleveland Alexander set down the last 21 batters, striking out 10 in Game Two of the World Series. Billy Southworth and Tommy Thevenow collected three hits each for a 6–2 Cardinals win. 1930s * 1934 - Dizzy Dean won the opening game of the World Series 8-3. Detroit Tigers manager Mickey Cochrane held back his ace pitching staff, Schoolboy Rowe, and veteran Al Crowder is ineffective as Joe Medwick hit 4-for-4 including a home run. The Tigers made five errors. 1940s *1940 - In the World Series, Jimmy Ripple's two-run home run in the third inning of Game Two provided the winning margin as the Cincinnati Reds ended the National League's 10-game Series losing streak with a 5-3 win over the Tigers. *1945 - The Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs faced in the World Series for the fourth time. Hank Borowy pitched a six-hitter and Hal Newhouser was demolished with eight runs in three innings as the Cubs won, 9–0. *1946 - The St. Louis Cardinals won the National League pennant by beating the Brooklyn Dodgers 8–4 and sweeping a best-of-three playoff. *1947 - New York Yankees pitcher Floyd Bevens held the Brooklyn Dodgers hitless until two were out in the ninth inning when pinch-hitter Cookie Lavagetto doubled in two runs for a 3–2 Brooklyn victory in Game Four of the World Series. 1950s *1951 - Bobby Thomson hit a three-run home run off Ralph Branca of the Brooklyn Dodgers with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the New York Giants a dramatic 5–4 playoff victory and the National League pennant. *1956 - Sal Maglie and the Brooklyn Dodgers defeated the Yankees 6–3 in the opening game of the World Series. *1957 - In Game Three of the World Series, Lew Burdette won the first of his three decisions against the Yankees. Burdette and the Milwaukee Braves beat Bobby Shantz 4–2. 1960s *1962 - The San Francisco Giants rallied for four runs in the ninth inning to win the third game of the tie-breaking playoffs, 6–4, over the Los Angeles Dodgers and move on to the World Series. *1968 - In Game Two of the World Series, Mickey Lolich of the Detroit Tigers tied the Series 1-1. Lolich pitched a six-hitter and hit his first major league home run to defeat the Cardinals, 8–1. 1970s *1971 - Bob Robertson hit three home runs to led the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 9–4 trouncing of the San Francisco Giants, which tied the National League playoffs at 1-1. *1972 - Roric Harrison homers as Baltimore beat Cleveland 4–3 in the second game of a doubleheader. With the designated hitter rule on the horizon, it will be the last home run hit by an American League pitcher until interleague play 25 years later. *1974 - Frank Robinson became the first black manager in the major leagues, as the Cleveland Indians named him to replace Ken Aspromonte for the 1975 season. *1976 - Hank Aaron singled in his last major-league at bat and drove in his 2,297th run as the sixth-place Brewers lose to the Tigers, 5–2. 1980s *1981 - The Milwaukee Brewers and Montreal Expos clinched their first-ever postseason appearances. Milwaukee beat Detroit, 2–1, to wrap up the second-half title in the AL East, while Montreal defeated the Mets, 5–4, to win the NL East's second playoff spot. * 1982 - Robin Yount hit two home runs and a triple as the Brewers won Baltimore, 10–2, to win the AL East championship. Don Sutton, 4-1 since being acquired by the Brewers in late August, is the winning pitcher. The Brewers lose three in a row to Baltimore to make this last game of the season a do-or-die. *1986 - The Baltimore Orioles lose to Detroit 6–3, assuring the Orioles of their first last-place finish since moving from St. Louis in 1954. *1987 - Benito Santiago's 34-game hitting streak, a rookie record, ended as the San Diego Padres snapped a nine-game losing streak with a 1–0 victory over the Dodgers. 1990s *1990 - George Brett of the Kansas City Royals became the first player in major league history to win a batting title in three different decades. Brett went 1-for-1 in Kansas City's 5-2 loss to the Cleveland Indians to win the American League batting title with a .329 average. Brett also won AL batting titles in 1976 and 1980. *1990 - Willie McGee became the first major league player to win a batting title in a league in which he didn't finish the season. McGee, who had a .335 average when St. Louis traded him to Oakland on August 28, won his second National League batting crown when Dave Magadan of the New York Mets failed to catch him on the season's final day. *1993: **The Toronto Blue Jays became the first team in American League history to have teammates finish 1-2-3 in the batting race. John Olerud led the league with a .363 batting average. Paul Molitor finished at .332 and Roberto Alomar closed the season at .326. **The San Francisco Giants need to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers on the final day of the season to force a one-game playoff with the Atlanta Braves for the NL West title, but the Dodgers have other plans. Los Angeles rips the Giants, 12–1. At 103-59, San Francisco became the first club since the 1954 Yankees to win that many games and not play in the postseason. *1995 - Tony Peña hit a home run to left field in the 13th inning to give the Indians a 5–4 victory over the Boston Red Sox in the first game of their AL division series. It is Cleveland's first postseason victory since the 1948 season. *1997 - The Atlanta Braves and Florida Marlins both sweep their respective NL division series. The Braves, behind a three-hitter by [[John Smoltz, completed the sweep of Houston with a 4–1 win. The Marlins ride a grand slam by Devon White to a 6–2 win and sweep of San Francisco. *1999 - On the final day of the season, Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals hit his 65th home run, moving past Ted Williams and Willie McCovey into 10th place on the career list with 522. McGwire finished with a two-homer edge over Chicago's Sammy Sosa, who hit his 63rd in the same game. 2000s *2002 - Alex Cabrera hit his 55th home run, tying the Japanese League record set by Sadaharu Oh in 1964 and matched by Tuffy Rhodes in 2001. Cabrera ended the season with 55 homers. *2004 - The final game in Montreal Expos team history is played away from home, against the New York Mets at Shea Stadium. New York defeated Montreal 8–1. Jamey Carroll scored the final Expos run and Endy Chávez became the final Expos batter in history when he singled out in the top of the ninth to end the game. Ironically, it was at Shea Stadium where the Expos played their first ever game in 1969. Births *1872 - Fred Clarke, Hall of Fame player and manager (d. 1960) *1887 - Armando Marsans, outfielder (d. 1960) *1931 - Bob Skinner, All-Star infielder and manager *1951 - Dave Winfield, Hall of Fame outfielder *1954 - Dennis Eckersley, Hall of Fame pitcher *1966 - Darrin Fletcher, All-Star catcher *1967 - Junior Félix, outfielder *1971 - Wil Cordero, All-Star infielder *1973 - Kerry Robinson, outfielder *1974 - Alex Ramírez, outfielder *1977 - Eric Munson, infielder *1981 - Matt Murton, outfielder Deaths *1895 - Harry Wright, Hall of Fame player and manager (b. 1835) *1975 - Elmer Knetzer, pitcher (b. 1885) *1986 - Vince DiMaggio, All-Star outfielder (b. 1912) *2004 - John Cerutti, pitcher (b. 1960)